The Team Wilts
by Knight of the Void
Summary: Blake is sent to find a lead on Torchwick. What she finds may break Team RWBY forever.
1. Chapter 1

The Team Wilts

**Blake**

_'Come on. Those White Fang goons must be around here somewhere.' _thought Blake as she jumped into another tree. It had been three weeks since she had set out from Beacon, and she was no closer to finding the terrorists than when she had started. She was starting to believe that this "Tip" that they had received was false...

* * *

_"Blake Belladonna!" Rang the voice of Glynda Goodwitch_  
_through the Hall. Blake looked up from her book to see the huntress professor standing in the doorway of the hall. Ruby looked up too._

_"Uh, oh." said the younger girl, "That usually means something bad." She turned to look at Blake._

_"What did you do?" She asked. Blake simply ignored her, set her book down and approached her, hands clasped down at her front._

_"Yes Ma'am?" she asked. The professor gazed down at her through the glasses perched on her nose, her piercing green eyes judging, almost sizing her up._

_"Professor Ozpin would like a word with you. He asks that you meet him in his office." she stated in her curt tone, hands behind her back._

_Blake looked back at her table, where Ruby and Wiess were still sitting. Ruby was watching what was going on, staring at them with her big silver eyes full of curiosity. Wiess either didn't know what was going on, or didn't care, all her attention focused on the paper in front of her. Blake turned back to Glynda._

_"Alright then, I'll go." she finally answered. Glynda nodded and turned to leave._

_"I suggest that you get to his office swiftly. It is not in your best interest to leave the Headmaster waiting."_

_Blake expected Professor Ozpin's office to be grand but then she was taken aback by the sheer size of it. The room took up an entire floor at the top of one of the towers of the school. A massive desk of rich dark wood sat at the far side of the room, and three of the walls were lined from floor to ceiling with books. The entire fourth wall behind the desk was a massive window, which looked out onto the grounds of Beacon. It was there that Professor Ozpin was standing, leaning on his cane. Blake stood in the doorway, unsure of what she should do next._

_"Blake Belladonna." Said Ozpin finally, still facing the the window. "Have a seat." He gestured with his cane towards his desk, where two plush armchairs stood in front of it. Blake slowly crossed the lush carpet and sat down._

_"Admiring my library, are you?" Asked the Headmaster. Blake looked down at her feet. She had not realized it but she had been gazing longingly at the books that filled the room._

_"It's just that there are some interesting looking books you have." she said politely, "Some of them look really old."_

_"Indeed, some of them are." He replied, finally turning to face her. He calmly walked back to his desk and sat down behind it, his brown eyes focused on Blake._

_"But getting to the point, I've asked you here because I have a mission for you."_

_Blake nodded silently. It was usually Glynda that gave Team RWBY its missions, so receiving one from the headmaster himself must be important._

_Ozpin took a remote from his desk and pressed a button on it. The massive window behind him darkened, then lit up again, but with a white background. Blake blinked. The window was also a huge screen._

_"I trust you've heard of The White Fang organization?" Said Ozpin as he turned his chair to face the screen. He pressed another button and a logo of some sort appeared, the head of some beast, a cougar maybe, in red, with big claw marks slashed right through it._

_"Only what's in the news." replied Blake. "They're some sort of activist group that has recently taken on a violent nature to their protests." The Professor gave a nod of approval._

_"That is all you should know, but it is important to not always take things at face value." He took a sip from his mug and pushed his small glasses farther up his nose. "The Government is keeping information about this organization secret from the public, so not to cause civil unrest. A few months ago, it was discovered that White Fang members have been raiding supply trains carrying cargo from the Schnee Dust Company."_

_Blake's back straitened a bit at the mention of Weiss' family name. Ozpin hit another button on the remote and the screen changed into a map._

_"The government has labeled the White Fangs as terrorist, but because they want to keep the public from knowing, they cannot get involved. They are requesting Beacon to assist them."_

_Blake was a bit confused by this._

_"Why keep it a secret?" she asked, "Why not just declare them terrorists and deal with them?"_

_Ozpin turned his chair back towards Blake and looked at her overtop his glasses._

_"I asked them to hold back."_

_Blake raised an eyebrow._

_"Why?"_

_"Because I have reason to believe that this organization has a connection to Roman Torchwick"_

_Blake's eyes narrowed. Team RWBY had run across Torchwick and his henchmen on a number of occasions, and every time he had managed to get away. Now Blake was starting to see where this was going._

_"So what is it you need me for?" she asked._

_"I received a tip from one of my trusted sources that a large population of White Fangs have set up base somewhere in the Crimson Forrest."_

_Another hit of a button caused the map to zoom in on the specified spot on the map. Blake's eyes darted along the screen as she studied it._

_"The Schnee Dust Company," continued Ozpin, "Has a rail road that runs through the forest." A wavy line became highlighted on the map. "The White Fangs likely have their operation set up somewhere along it, but they could be anywhere in the forest."_

_He set the remote down and leaned on the desk, his chin resting on his hands._

_"Since you've arrived at Beacon, you've shown exceptional infiltration skills. It is for this reason that I am assigning this mission to you and you alone. Your objective is rather strait forward: Find the White Fang's camp, figure out why they are stealing the Schnee products and what they are doing with them, and above all else, uncover any information about Torchwick."_

_Blake was still studying the map when Ozpin finished. She looked down at the headmaster._

_"That forest covers a lot of land. I'm supposed to find them in that? Alone?"_

_"Yes. This mission will likely take a long time. A week if you are lucky. I think we both know that the rest of your team's skills are ill- equipped for this type of work."_

_Blake nodded in agreement. Ruby and Wiess could never stay quiet when in close proximity to each other, and Yang would sooner topple the whole forest than sneak around. But there were others who would be up to the task._

_"Well, what about Lie Ren? He's also good at infiltration."_

_"True. But his skills are geared more towards assassination. We also cannot have multiple hunters and huntresses running about without drawing suspicion. We need surprise here, or else Torchwick will disappear again."_

_Blake nodded her head again._

_"I understand, Sir."_

_"Good." Ozpin replied, "You leave tomorrow. I suggest you prepare."..._

* * *

_'At what point do I give up and head back to Beacon?'_ thought Blake as spun around on a branch and leapt off it into another tree. She had searched the forest all around the Schnee rail road, to no avail. She had even staked out until a train passed through, but there was no sign of any malicious activity.

_'Do I actually have to turn over every single leaf in this stupid-'  
_  
Her thought was interrupted by a large bang behind her.

_'Gunshot.'  
_  
Blake twisted in the air just as a massive projectile flew past, just missing her. Doing so caused her to smash into the branch she was going to land on. Winded, Blake fell, crashing through the tree till she hit the forest floor, landing on her ankle.

Blake winced in pain as she leaped to her feet.

_'At least a sprain.'_ she thought, _'A fracture if I'm really unlucky.'  
_  
She pulled Gambol Shroud off her back and looked up into the tree. Her heart stopped when she found the thing that almost hit her buried in the trunk of the tree. It was a ninjatõ.

A red ninjatõ.

_'No. It can't be-'  
_  
"Well, I never thought it'd be you I find sneaking around here." came a voice behind her. Blake turned around, and her eyes widened.

"You?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Ruby**

"Ready?!" called Ruby across the arena.

"Uhh... yeah, I'm ready!" Jaune called back, taking his scabbard off of his belt and pulling his sword out of it.

"Alright then. Here I come!"

With that, Ruby yanked Crescent Rose off her back and extended it fully into its scythe mode. Pointing it behind her, she hopped into the air and pulled the trigger. The recoil from the rifle shot sent the massive weapon barreling towards Jaune, carrying Ruby with it. Ruby began spinning in the air, bearing her weapon's massive blade down on Jaune.

Jaune gasped a bit, just barely managing to extend his scabbard into a shield and bringing it between himself and the scythe blade.

The impact from Crescent Rose knocked Jaune off his feet as he flew a few yards , landing on his back.

"You okay?!" called Ruby.

Jaune quickly scrambled to his feet, going into a defensive stance.

"Yeah, I'm fine! I did tell you not to go easy, right?"

"Good, 'cause I'm not done yet!"

Ruby brought Crescent Rose around and pointed the gun barrel directly at Jaune. Without hesitation, she slammed the bolt action into place and fired.

The high impact round slammed into Jaune's shield, the force of it sending up a huge cloud of dust surrounding Jaune.

Ruby didn't stop there . She fired her scythe another four times, the rounds disappearing into the dust cloud and connecting with their target.

When the dust cleared, Jaune stood there, completely unscathed. His shield was bathed in pure white light, manifesting itself into the shape of the shield, but three times its size.

"Whoa!" called Ruby. Jaune's whole body now began glowing with the same white light.

"When did you learn that?"

"Umm... Pyrrha and Ren have been teaching me how to control my Aura." replied Jaune meekly.

Ruby nodded. If Jaune could learn to control that massive Aura of his, he would be a fearsome foe indeed.

Jaune brought his sword up in front of him.

"Well, I guess it's my turn now."

His sword began to glow as well, and the light manifested into the shape of the blade, then extended. Jaune's Aura-powered sword was now six feet long, yet when he began running at Ruby, he swung at her like the sword's weight hadn't changed.

"Whoa!" gasped Ruby. She leaped back, using Crescent Rose to vault her even further, and narrowly avoided the Aura blade. She then fired her gun into the ground to propel the scythe into the air before she brought it down with all her might.

Again the scythe connected with Jaune's shield, but it just bounced off the Aura-charged weapon, causing it to fly back, taking Ruby with it.

Ruby landed on her feet, mind racing. She knew Jaune was trying to discern a strategy for beating her, so she couldn't do the same thing twice.

That's when she noticed something. Jaune's shield was cloaked in Aura, but his sword was bare. Ruby watch Jaune's body begin to glow again, and this time she noticed that as the sword grew longer, the shield grew smaller.

'_He can't maintain both of them at the same time._' she thought to herself. She smirked a bit. She knew what to do now.

Jaune charged her again, attempting a horizontal slash at her chest area, expecting Ruby to dodge backwards. Instead, she came forward, bringing Crescent Rose up and parrying his sword swipe.

The blade fell into the nook of the scythe, and Ruby began twisting her weapon down, taking Jaune's arm down with it. Seeing the opening, she leaped up and kicked Jaune hard in the chest.

Jaune lost his grip on his sword and fell back wards. He landed hard on his back again, winding him, causing his eyes to shut in pain. When he opened them, all he saw was the a massive gun barrel in his face, and a scythe blade hovering over his torso.

"GAHH! Alright I give up!" he cried, covering his face with his hands.

"Yeah, like your hands are gonna stop the fifty-caliber bullet." said Ruby with a giggle. She lifted her weapon off Jaune and collapsed it back to its carrying form, which she attached to her lower back. Then she held her hand out to him.

Jaune smiled slightly, accepting the hand and climbing to his feet.

"I guess I still have to-"

Jaune was interrupted when something tackled him to the ground again. A girl was now sitting on Jaune's chest, giggling uncontrollably.

"Good job, Jaune!" cried Nora as she leaped off of him and disappeared again.

Ruby and Jaune turned around to see three figures approaching.

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Nora, her face lit up with the giant smile she always had.

"Your Aura use is improving." stated Ren, keeping his calm demeanor, yet cringing due to Nora now clinging to his back, her arms around his shoulders.

"Thanks." said Jaune as he picked himself off the ground again, "I've still got a long way to go, though."

"Well it was no surprise that you won, Ruby." mumbled Weiss, arms crossed and looking away. She was in a bad mood, and Ruby understood why. She and Ren had sparred earlier. It was a really close fight, but in the end, Ren's agility and mastery over his Aura was too much for Weiss' speed and Dust combat. The fact that Ruby had won her fight didn't help matters at all, nor was Nora's attitude.

"Well I guess we should go see how Yang's doing." said Ruby to the rest of them.

As if on cue, a low rumble shook the arena. The sounds of violent clashes and explosions could be heard faintly from across the grounds.

Yang and Pyrrah were required to spar in the coliseum, where the floor was made of sand. They were restricted there after the third time they had destroyed the training arena's cobblestone floor as collateral damage to their fighting.

As the five of them crossed the grounds, the sounds of clashes and shouting became louder and louder. When they finally entered the stands, they were a bit shocked at what they found.

The place was absolutely packed. This wouldn't be unusual if it were an actual event going on, like a school tournament or another school had come to challenge Beacon. This, though was just two students getting in some sparring practice. Almost every seat was filled. Ruby noticed Team CRDL, first years like her and the others, and also some fourth years up in the back.

The sand pit had certainly seen better days. Huge craters in the sand were everywhere, and shells and bullet casings were littered all over the place. On opposite ends of the pit stood two girls. Pyrrah had her shield out in front of her, and her spear poised to strike. Yang had both her fist raised, Ember Celica smoldering. Both girls were panting heavily, sweat pouring down their faces.

Ruby stared down in awe at her sister. The fact that the two girls could be this powerful that a fight between them would draw such a crowd was amazing.

Pyrrah took a deep breath, and smiled a bit.

"Ready for another round?" she called across the arena.

Yang smirked, then pumped her fists in the air. Ember Celica's reload action cocked, and two empty shells hit the sand.

"I can do this all day." she stated smugly.

She smashed her fist together, causing her Aura to ignite, wreathing her long blond hair in flame, and her eyes turned from their normal lilac to red.

Both girls poised to pounce at one another. But before either could move, the intercom sounded, and Glynda Goodwitch's voice sounded through the arena.

"Would Teams RWBY and JNPR please report to the debriefing room for your next assignments."

* * *

Pyrrah and Yang arrived at the debriefing room to find everyone already there. The two girls went and stood with their respective teams as Glynda approached them, her eyes on her hand screen. Behind her, a large screen began to boot up, displaying the crest of Beacon. After a few moments she finally raised her head to address Ruby and Jaune.

"Your teams are going to be collaborating with each other for this mission. We have been asked for help from the Schnee Dust Company."

From the corner of her eye, Ruby saw Weiss straiten a bit, which was something, considering she had been at perfect attention from the start.

"What does my family's Company want from us?" she asked.

Glynda glanced at the white haired girl briefly before returning her gaze to the team leaders.

"They have requested that we send some personnel to guard a convoy carrying a shipment of refined Dust through the Crimson Forest."

She tapped her handheld screen, and the large on the wall changed into a map, Showing the forest.

"Excuse me Ma'am," interjected Weiss, "But why are they traveling through that forest with a convoy? The Schnee family owns a railroad that runs right through that forest. Why aren't they using it?"

"For some time now, Schnee trains that travel across that railroad have been ransacked by bandits, and had their cargo stolen." replied Glynda. "Now they are trying different methods."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. Ruby could see that Wiess was puzzled by this.

"Then why didn't they ask us to deal with the bandits?"

Glynda's eyes narrowed.

"That isn't any of your concern. Your mission is as follows."

She tapped her screen again, and two routes through the forest came into view.

"The Schnee's are taking all precautions. There will be two convoys, as well as a train passing at the same time. The train and one of the convoys will be decoys. Hopefully the bandits will be unaware of the convoys and only attack the train, but in the case that the convoys come into danger, it is up to you to protect them. That being said, each team will be assigned to a convoy. Team RWBY will guard the decoy, while Team JNPR handles the real one."

"What?!" exclaimed Weiss, "With all due respect Ma'am, It should be me-...my team that guards the real one."

"Really? And why is that?"

"I-... Ummm." Weiss grew quieter and quieter until she hung her head.

"Because it's her family that we're helping." said Ruby, stepping forward. "She has the right to be more that a distraction."

Glynda looked taken aback by the argument coming from the students. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off when Jaune stepped forward.

"Uhmm... Ma'am? It actually does make sense that they guard the real thing. They have one less member on their team as of now. If these bandits are aware of the convoys, they'll likely suspect that the one with more security is the real one. So if my team guards the fake, we can likely draw them away from the real convoy."

The Huntress Professor looked around the room at the seven students, all nodding in agreement to Jaune's proposal. Her lips pursed as she looked back down at the screen in her hands.

"Very well." she finally said, "Team JNPR will guard the decoy while Team RWBY escorts the real one." She looked back up at them with her usual look of discontent. "Any questions?"

Ruby raised her hand.

"Umm... Has there been any news about Blake yet?"

She was worried. Blake had disappeared one day almost two months ago without even a goodbye. It was only after she tracked down Professor Ozpin that she leaned that Blake had gone off alone on some secret mission, but she never learned what that mission was. Ruby hadn't heard anything since then.

Glynda's eyes softened just a bit at the sight of the young girl's big silver eyes.

"I'm sorry, but we have heard nothing as far as I am aware. One of Miss Belladonna's mission parameters was to not contact us until her mission was complete."

Ruby a eyes dropped slightly, then she sprung up, eyes now determined.

"Well, while Blake's out doing her job, we have to do ours. Weiss? Yang? Let's go!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Ruby**

"Ugh! When we get back to Beacon, remind me to request that we never get escort missions again." said Ruby with a yawn.

She was walking slowly along beside the even slower moving caravan as it travelled through the red leaved trees, seemingly inches at at time. Ruby yawned again and wiped some tears from her eyes. Yang was squirrelled away in the back of a wagon, sound asleep. Weiss was the only one who looked wide awake, walking alongside the convoy with determination. Ruby shook her head and straitened her back. As long as Weiss was giving her hundred percent, she had to as well.

Looking for something to do, she tapped the comm device in her ear, connecting it to an identical one in Jaune's ear, wherever he was.

"Jaune? It's Ruby. Anything going on wherever you guys are?"

"Nothing so far." came Jaune's reply in her ear, "Maybe these bandit guys really don't know about us?"

"The train should be passing through soon. Let me know if anything happens."

"All right."

Ruby lowered her hand and sighed again. A distant rumbling noise signified the train passing through the forest. Despite it being out of sight and far away, its horn was still loud enough that it caused Ruby to cringe when it sounded.

Behind her, she heard a panicked yell, then a large thud. Ruby instinctively reached for Crescent Rose and spun around, only to see Yang sprawled on the ground.

"Oww" she groaned, and Ruby laughed. The train's horn must have startled Yang awake, and she fell out the back of the wagon.

"Well sis? I guess that's what you get for sleeping on the job." said Ruby with a giggle.

Yang picked herself up off the ground and turned to her sister, her mouth slightly ajar. Her lilac eyes were slightly clouded from sleep, and her fabulous blonde hair looked disheveled. She groaned as the sun shone in her eyes and she covered them with her hands.

"Why do trains even need horns. They're on tracks and you can see them from miles aw-"

A sudden noise cut Yang off. A massive screeching noise sounded, like nails on a chalkboard amplified a thousand times. Everyone in the convoy fell to their knees, eyes screwed tight and hands over ears.

_'What is that?'_ Thought Ruby as her teeth ground together.

"Ruby?!" Ruby opened her eyes as a voice called inside her head. It was Jaune talking through the comm.

"Jaune! Was is that noise?!"

"I think that was the train. It must have been hit."

"Then we have to be on full-"

"Hey! Who are you?! Pyrrah! Ren!"

"Jaune? Jaune?!" called Ruby, but all she got back was static.

"Ruby!"

Ruby spun around to find the wagon containing the case they were guarding sliced in half. All of the Schnne personnel were on the ground, out cold. Weiss was standing over the wreckage with a look of shock on her face.

"Some creeps did this. They're getting away with the shipment." she pointed into the forest, where Ruby turned just in time to see a pair of white cloaks disappearing into the trees.

"Need to go after them." Ruby stated, reaching for her weapon. But before she even touched it, Yang rocketed past her, he arms extended behind her and Ember Celia propelling her forward.

"I've got 'em!" she called before she too disappeared through the massive trunks.

"Yang! Wait!" called Ruby, but her sister was already too far ahead to hear her.

Ruby extended Crescent Rose, then looked to Weiss, who already had her Myrtenaster drawn and poised.

"Come on. We have to catch them."

Weiss nodded, and the two took off. It wasn't hard to follow them, seeing as Yang had left a clear path of scorched earth behind her. Every so often, Ruby and Weiss would come across a small, smoking crater in the ground, where Yang and the bandits must have clashed. In the distance, they could hear explosions sounding, coupled with brief flashes of fiery red-yellow light.

Finally, the two girls saw an opening in the trees. It lead to a clearing, which stopped at the edge of a large cliff. Ruby and Weiss stopped dead in their tracks.

At the edge of the cliff stood the two bandits. The shorter of the two was bundled up in a white cloak, with their hood pulled over their face. The second one was a man that stood almost two feet taller than Ruby. From head to foot he was dressed in black. His shoes, pants, shirt, all was black. His coat was black as well , with a red inside, and on his left shoulder was the symbol of a wilted rose. On his hands were black gloves with a red **Ω** symbol on the backs. His windswept hair was brown with red highlights that accented the rest of his attire. The top half of his face was obscured by some sort of mask that looked disturbingly like that of a Grimm creature, with red symbols on its face and strange cloth bits that stuck up into his hair almost ears. In his left hand he carried a sheath that housed what looked like a ninjatõ. In his right hand dangled the unconscious body of Yang Xiao Long.

* * *

"YANG!" Ruby screamed as she poised Crescent Rose to strike. Weiss did the same thing beside her.

Yang's body stirred a bit. The man held her wrist at his eye level, leaving the rest of her body dangling in the air. Her gauntlets were collapsed back into bracelets, useless in that form.

The man turned his attention towards the two newcomers, still never letting go of Yang.

"So this belongs to you?" he asked. He looked at the two of them through the slits in his mask as if he were studying them.

"You don't seem to be typical Schnee dogs." He said curtly. He then looked at Weiss.

"Though you seem to fly their colors like some kind of Mascot."

Beside her, Ruby could hear Weiss' give a low growl.

"Let her go!" Ruby commanded.

The man looked back at Yang like she was some form of toy, then looked back at Ruby.

"Fine."

And he nonchalantly tossed Yang over the edge of the cliff.

For a moment Ruby and Weiss were to paralyzed to move. Then the second bandit in the hood suddenly reached their arm out towards Yang's flying body. Yang's bracelet caught on the sleeve of the bandits cloak, and it disappeared over the cliff with Yang's unconscious body.

Ruby forgot to breath. For an instant she even forgot about Yang.

"Blake?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Blake**

"Adam!" Exclaimed Blake, turning to the tall man as Yang's body finally disappeared from sight.

Adam looked back at her, his face showing no emotion at all.

"What?" he asked plainly.

"You agreed that we wouldn't kill anyone!"

Adam glanced at the edge of the cliff.

"She'll survive. Probably."

He turned back to her.

"Why do you even care? She was in our way. Why should you care what happens to her?"

Blake averted her eyes from Adam, only to have her gaze fall on Ruby and Weiss across the clearing. Both girls stood there, immobilized from the shock of what they had just witnessed, their mouths open in a frozen gasp.

_'Why?'_ she thought, _'Why are they here? Why did it have to be them of all people?'_

Ruby's big silver eyes were trained on her, full of confusion and hurt.

_'Ruby.'_ thought Blake as she looked back at her. _'Please. Stop looking at me like that.'_

Beside the red clad girl, Weiss seemed to finally break from her shock. She grabbed Ruby's shoulder and shook her.

"Ruby! You've got to snap out of it!" she yelled right in Ruby's ear. Ruby continued to stare at Blake, her eyes now slightly glistening from held back tears.

"Blake?! What are you doing here?" she screamed. "Why did you let that guy do that to Yang?!"

Blake flinched. Beside her, she heard Adam grip his sheath, Blush, tighter. The sword, Wilt, was secured in the sheath, but Blake knew that didn't change how dangerous it was.

"Tell them anything, and they won't be allowed to live." he stated coldly.

Blake looked down at the ground, unable to face Ruby and Wiess staring at her with looks of anger and sorrow.

_ 'Ruby please! Stop it!'_ she yelled inside her head.

* * *

**Ruby**

"You were supposed to be on some secret mission! Now you've left us for some bandit group?! I thought we were friends!" screamed Ruby.

Across the clearing, Blake was staring at the ground, her face hidden. Beside her, the man she had called Adam gave an amused smile.

"Really Blake?" he asked, his sneering voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "I thought you went to that academy to get stronger, instead you convinced these people you were their friend? Pathetic. They're not even in the same league."

Ruby flinched.

"Wh- what? What is he talking about Blake?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Weiss as she brought Myrtenaster up in front of her. "Blake was playing us for fools the whole time."

Ruby looked at Weiss, then back at Blake.

_'No. That can't be true. Blake couldn't do that.' _she thought.

"Enough of this." said Adam impatiently.

His hand tightened around his sheath. Then a large bang sounded, and suddenly the sword inside the sheath was flying towards them, hilt first. Instinctively, Ruby and Weiss jumped away, in opposite directions.

Just as the sword passed between them, suddenly Adam was there too.

_'So fast.'_ thought Ruby.

Adam grabbed his sword out of the air and turned on her. His sheath, now collapsed into some type of rifle, was pointed behind him , at Weiss. As he fired it, Ruby saw Weiss erecting a shield to protect herself.

Ruby leaped back even further, getting out of the swords range. Adam swung regardless, and only just too late did Ruby notice his sword's red blade glow and extend. She brought Crescent Rose up, but it was too late. The ninjatõ bit into Ruby's right arm, causing her to yelp as she hit the ground hard.

_'Man, this guys is good.'_ she thought, cringing as her arm began to bleed profusely. She stood up and tried to bring her weapon up again, but doing so caused her arm to hurt so bad that she went dizzy from the pain, and she fell back down again.

Weiss was still on her feet, Myrtenaster poised at the ready. Adam was now standing with his sword in its sheath, with his right hand on the hilt.

"Ruby! Are you okay?" called Wiess.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Ruby responded, clutching her cut arm.

_'We can't let him get close.'_ thought Ruby as her sleeve absorbed her blood. She could feel herself beginning to feel light-headed. They needed to finish this quickly.

"Weiss! Torch him!" she yelled.

"Right!" responded Weiss, and she cycled Myrtenaster's revolver chamber, selecting a red canister of Dust. Her rapier's blade began to glow red.

Weiss sliced the air with her sword in a wide arc, and a torrent of flame burst forth, barreling towards Adam.

For a split second, Ruby saw the corners of Adam 'a mouth curl. He brought his sword up in front of him and unsheathed the blade partway, putting it in the path of the flames just as they engulfed him.

"Yes!" cried Weiss, "I got him."

"Weiss?" Ruby called, her voice shaky.

The raging inferno was getting smaller. The flames shrunk until Adam was visible again, completely unharmed. Once the flames touched his ninjatõ's blade, they disappeared, like the sword was absorbing them.

As the last of the flames disappeared, Adam sheathed his sword again and brought it down to his side , hand still on the hilt.

"Weiss?" he asked, his voice now dark and ominous, "The Schnee Princess herself?"

Suddenly, all the parts of Adam that were red, from his clothes to his mask to even his hair, began to glow brightly. Ruby' s eyes widened.

"Weiss! He's coming!" She yelled as she propped Crescent Rose up in front of herself. Weiss also put up shields in front of both herself and Ruby.

For a brief instant, it was as if the sun had darkened. Adam's glowing was now the brightest thing in the vicinity. He pulled his sword out of its sheath into a horizontal slash, cutting the air and creating a massive shock wave, obliterating nearby trees, and even shattering Weiss' shields.

Ruby yelled as the blast wave struck her. She flew through the air and landed a few feet from the cliff. When she opened her eyes, her vision was blurred. Her arm throbbed savagely now, and she was fighting to stay conscious.

Weiss had been blasted toward the forest, and she had collided with a tree, the force sending her right through the thick trunk, and crashing into another one. It was at the foot of that tree that she lay, crumpled, on the ground, not moving.

It was then that Ruby noticed Adam approaching Weiss' unconscious body, his sword in hand.

_'No.'_ thought Ruby sluggishly as she tried to move, but to no avail, _'Have to save Weiss. Have to save Yang.'  
_  
But she could feel her consciousness fading, her eyes fluttering closed. The last thing she saw was Adam bringing his sword down on Wiess, and a figure with black hair jumping between them.


	5. Chapter 5

Wilt Part V  
_**  
**__**"You can't do this!"**_

_**"Why not? It's a perfect opportunity."**_

_**"You swore that you wouldn't kill anyone."**_

_**"She's not just anyone."**_

_**"I won't let you. If you hurt them any more, I will take everything you've worked for apart."**_

_**"And then what? It's not like you can just go back. If those three return, they'll tell them what they saw, and you'll officially be the same boat as the rest of us."**_

_**"..."**_

_**"I'll let them go. Just this once. If they cross me again, I will not hesitate."**_

_**"Fine. Now let's get out of here before we're discovered by anyone else."**_

**RUBY**

Ruby's eyes fluttered open, and narrowed them again when a large ceiling light shone down on her. She was lying on a bed with curtains drawn all around her. Her right arm was nestled in a sling, and there was an angry scar running across her upper arm. Beyond the curtain, she could hear voices.

She opened her mouth to try and speak, but her throat was so dry all that came out was a hoarse moan. Beside her on the right side of the bed was a metal stand, where stood a vase of flowers and a glass of water.

Sitting up, Ruby reached for the glass of water, which was a bit difficult since she had to bring her left arm across her body and lean to the side. Eventually she finally managed to grasp the glass, but when she dragged it across the stand toward her, her hand bumped the vase over, sending crashing to the ground, shattering it.

Ruby cringed at the sound of the crash, then brought the glass to her lips, drinking the water as fast as she could. When she brought the glass down she began coughing, her throat grudgingly accepting the liquid. She dropped the glass into her lap and placed her hand over her mouth to muffle her coughs.

When she finally finished she noticed that the voices beyond the curtain had fallen silent, and Ruby could now hear footsteps approaching.

The curtain flew back, and in came Glynda Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin.

"Miss Rose." Greeted Glynda, her voice it's usual monotone and unsmiling, "It is a relief to see you finally awake."

Ruby looked out past the two professors and saw that she was in the Beacon Academy Infirmary.

"How did I get here?" She asked, rubbing her eyes a bit.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug.

"You were incapacitated during your mission. Team JNPR found you and your team unconscious and beaten, and they brought you back here almost two weeks ago."

Ruby's eyes widened as she remembered what had happened to the others.

"Where's the rest of my team?" she asked with a slight touch of panic.

"Miss Schnee has made a full recovery and has since been released from the infirmary. Your sister is right beside you." said Glynda, walking around to the left side of Ruby's bed and drawing back the curtains.

Lying on another bed was Yang. Her eyes were closed, but aside from a few scratches, bruises and a cast on one of her legs, she seemed fine.

"Thank god, they're okay." she said, her body relaxing with a sigh.

Glynda raised her hand screen, pulling up what looked like a report and studying it.

"I'm sorry if this seems soon, but we need to know what happened during your mission. Miss Schnee has already provided us her own report, but as team leader, your recollection of the mission should be taken into account."  
_  
__'Weiss likely already told them that the mission was a failure.'_ thought Ruby. She tried to sit up a bit straighter, recalling what had happened.

"Well, the mission proceeded really well for a few hours. Neither our convoy nor Jaune's had any problems and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. But once the train came through, everything went crazy. The train sounded like it was attacked, then a few seconds after that Jaune's team got jumped, then ours did. The bandits destroyed the wagon and knocked out all the other guys guarding it, then disappeared before we even realized it. We chased them, Yang ran ahead. When Weiss and I caught up to them, the two bandits had beaten Yang, and one of them tossed her off a cliff. Then the other one..."

Ruby gasped as she remembered.

"Blake! The other one was Blake."

Ruby looked into the two professors' faces. She saw Glynda's eyes narrow, but Ozpin's face remained unchanged.

"Yes, we heard this news from Miss Schnee." said Glynda, "She seems to believe that this was Miss Belladonna's agenda since arriving at Beacon."

Ruby's heart stopped.

_'She what? She wouldn't have told them about Blake being a-'__  
_  
"No!" interjected she.

Glynda turned her head towards the girl in the bed.

"You disagree?"

"Well, I mean-"

"Was she not working with these bandits?"

"She didn't attack us. The guy she was with-"

"Did she offer any sort of explanation as to why she was there?"

"No. I-"

That's when she saw Ozpin's fingers tighten around his cane. Ruby's eyes widened.

"You know, don't you? You know why Blake was with them."

Ozpin eyes looked down at the floor, a sad sigh emitting from his lips.

"I sent Blake on a covert mission that only she and I knew about. She was to find the White Fang in that forest and learn how and why they were attacking the Schnee's. I haven't received any information from her in almost two months. She was meant to help prevent these attacks. Now she's aiding them. I do not believe that she has taken this route as part of her mission."

Glynda looked back at her screen, adding the new information provided by Ozpin to her report.

"That being said, we have sufficient evidence against Miss Belladonna to-"

"No!" Shouted Ruby.

Both professors stopped and looked at her. Ruby could feel her eyes begin to moisten.

"Blake isn't like that. Whatever she's doing, she has to have a good reason for doing it."

Glynda's eyes softened a bit.

"Ruby, we are also saddened by these turn of events, but all the evidence is conclusive. We know that Blake was your friend and fellow teammate, so it may be hard for you to accept, but she has strayed from the path of a Huntress. I'm afraid we have no choice but to declare Blake Belladonna as an Outlaw."  
**  
**

**BLAKE**

Wind whipped through Blake's hair as she and Adam finished off the last of the androids.

The train was still traveling though the Crimson Forest, but they needed to pick up the pace. Ever since the Schnee company had invested in this automated security, she and Adam were the only ones capable of successfully executing these raids anymore, and even they actually had to stop to clear out the androids.

Putting Gambol Shroud on her back, she and Adam entered the enclosed car in from of them. Inside the dimly lit car lay several large black crates, each bearing the Schnee Snowflake on its side.

The two approached one. Adam broke the lock on it and lifted the lid.

"Perfect. Move up to the next car." he ordered, closing the lid. Then he turned to look at Blake.  
"I'll set the charges."

According to Adam, the White Fang had taken enough from the Shnee's for their own gain, but that didn't stop them from continuing their campaign against the Dust company. Only now they've simply been destroying rather than stealing.

Blake was about to nod her head in acknowledgement when a thought crossed her mind.

"What about the crew members?" she asked him.

She could practically feel the air turn frigid around Adam.

"What about them?" he asked plainly.

Blake's heart sank.

_'So he's finally even given up on his charade.'_ she thought_, 'He doesn't care what I think anymore. He knows that I have nowhere else to go anymore.'__  
_  
Before she could continue her thought, however, she heard a noise, like a metallic growl.

She and Adam both turned towards the sound to see something drop down from the ceiling. It was another automaton, but neither of them had seen one like this before.

It stood on four huge, insect-like legs, had an upright torso and a blocky head. It stood tall almost four times the size of Blake, and wielded four massive guns, two mounted on its shoulders, and one in place of each arm. All of which were now pointed at them.

Blake saw Adam grip Blush tighter.

"Adam." she warned.

Adam ignored her and advanced on the big machine. Blake realized that before she could do anything, they needed to get rid of this thing.

**RUBY**

Ruby growled as moved her pencil across her paper. She needed to complete a 3,000 word paper on her opinion of what the most dangerous Grimm creature was and then defend it, to be handed in to Professor Port in the morning. Ruby of course had left it to the last minute and was now scrambling to get it done.

Yang and Weiss had finished their papers earlier in the week, and they were off somewhere else, leaving Ruby alone in the dorm room. They're excuse was they wanted to leave Ruby alone so she could focus, but she knew the real reason why they gave her so much space.

Nothing was the same anymore now that Blake was gone for good. Ruby's usual chipper attitude was more or less gone, replaced by sorrow. Yang, who Ruby knew had become good friends with Blake, was also much more quiet now.

The one who seemed unaffected by the recent turn of events was Weiss. She and Blake had never truly warmed up to each other, Weiss trusting her even less when they discovered Blake's secret, though she was still willing to keep it a secret. She believed that Blake was only ever attending Beacon to further her own malicious goals, and seemed to have gotten over the loss of Blake as if it was inevitable to have happened.

Ruby growled as she repeatedly tapped her pencil on her page.

_'This is so dumb. Why do we have to write a paper on what the most dangerous monster is? They're all the same once you figure out their weakness. The real danger comes from people like Torchwick or that Adam guy.'__  
_  
"Grrrrrrrraaah!" She finally exclaimed, casting her pencil down, only to have it bounce off the paper onto the floor and roll under Bla-Yang's bed.

Sighing heavily, Ruby got down on her hands and knees and looked under the bed. The pencil was nestled in a small groove made from a gap in the floorboards. One of the boards was loose.

Curious, Ruby lifted the board. Nestled in the small hole I the floor was a black book titled _"Ninjas of Love". _The book caused Ruby to smile.

_'Blake must have hid this under her bed because she was embarrassed.'__  
_  
It was then that she noticed the corner of the bookmark sticking out of the top of the book. It looked like the corner of a photograph.

Carefully, Ruby opened the book to the mark, and picked out the photo. It was a picture of Team RWBY, taken shortly after they had become a team. The four girls were standing with their room in the background, With Ruby smiling in the center, and a laughing Yang leaning on her head, with Weiss and Blake on either side of them. It was a rare picture, because it was one of the only documented moments that showed Weiss and Blake smiling at the same time.

Ruby felt her eyes well up with tears as she looked at the picture.

"There's no way." she said aloud.

Standing up, she looked out the window as the sun was just dipping below the horizon.

_'It wasn't fake. Blake really was our friend. Now she's somewhere out there in who knows how much trouble.'_

**Blake**

Blake clenched her teeth as she hit the floor hard. The wind tossed her hair In front of her face as she picked herself up. In front of her the massive insect-bot was combining its four arms into a giant gun again.

Blake had thrown everything she had at it, using all three of Gambol Shroud's forms, but she may as well have tried punching it to death.

The barrel of the massive canon began to glow blue as it charged up its blast.

"**MOVE!**" Yelled Adam beside her. He had spent the time that Blake had been throwing herself at the bot to gather his semblance, his hand on Wilt poised to draw it from Blush.

Blake took off in the opposite direction, hoping that she had bought him enough time.

As she reached the end of the car, she heard the automatons cannon fire, and she turned around to see the massive energy blast barrel towards Adam, who drew Wilt in front of him, protecting his body.

Adam's body shuddered as the energy blast slammed into him, only to be absorbed into Wilt.

Blake turned away when she saw the red parts of Adam's outfit begin to glow. She knew what would shoot next and didn't need to see it.

She stopped when she jumped onto the next car.  
_  
__'I know that Adam has good reason to hate the Schnee's, but I can't just sit here and allow him to continue with his plan. The crewmen of this train are people too, regardless of what they believe in or who they work for. Adam believes that staying with him and his gang is the only option for me, since I can't return to Beacon. While that may be true, I can't continue like this.'__  
_  
Slowly, Blake turned around. Adam had reached the end of the previous car, the only thing between them was the coupling keeping the cars attached. Adam sensed something was wrong and extended his hand.

Blake gazed sadly at him. There was a lot she wanted to tell him.

_'I'm sorry Adam. I believed in your ideals at first, and I may have had my own spiteful reasons for joining you. But now your hopes have become my burden. I will find my own liberation.'__  
_  
But instead she just said, "Goodbye."

With that, she pulled her sword off her back and sliced the train couplings apart watching as Adam's part began to rapidly decelerate out of sight.

**Ruby**

The moon was just creeping up by the time Ruby made it to Beacon's main gates. She looked back at the shining emerald palace one last time before pulling her red hood over her head and crossing through the gateway.

She didn't make it four steps before she heard a voice behind her.

"Out for a stroll?"

Ruby jumped six feet in the air with a squeak and spun around.

Leaning on the wall was Weiss and Yang. Both of them were in their own clothes rather than their school uniforms.

"Oh. Uhh... hhheyyy guys." Ruby said awkwardly, "I was just umm-"

"You were just sneaking out of campus in the middle of the night " said Weiss as she and Yang pushed themselves off the wall and approached her.

"We know what you're doing." said Yang, planting her hands on her hips and looking at Ruby with one of her rare wise-older-sister looks.

Ruby groaned in frustration. The two older girls must have been keeping an eye on her.

"So now you're here to drag me back?" She asked.

"First we want to know why." said Weiss, her arms folded across her chest.

"You know why." said Ruby as she looked straight into Weiss' ice-blue eyes, "I'm going to go find Blake. "

"Why? Maybe she doesn't want to be found ."

"Even so, I have to go help her."

"She doesn't need help. She hid the fact that she was a Faunus, and then joined up with the White Fang the first chance she got. This was probably her plan all along. She was never your friend, Ruby. Why are you going to such lengths for her?" demanded Weiss

"Because she's part of my team!" retorted Ruby, taking as rep towards the white-clad girl, "You think that the reason she hid her identity from everyone is because she didn't want people to alienate her, as she correctly assumed would happen, WEISS! I know the two of you never truly connected, but Blake was never hostile towards you. Once you figured it out what she was, you practically disowned her. That would make me pretty spiteful of you, so maybe that's why she was with the White Fang. But you know what? When that guy was about to kill you while you were unconscious on the ground, SHE STILL SAVED YOU!"

By now Ruby's face was inches away from Weiss', who was forced to take a step back.

"Blake is my friend," Ruby continued, "and I'm going to find her."

Weiss blinked, then sighed.

"Alright, then we're going too"

Ruby stopped.

"Wait, what?"

She then noticed Yang 'a big smile.

"We we're prepared to follow you. You are our leader after all." she said as she looked beside her at Weiss. "Weiss just needed a little convincing."

Ruby looked from Yang to Weiss and back to Yang. Then she smiled.

"There still is one problem." said Weiss, "If Blake is still hanging around with Tall, Dark and Brooding, what are we going to do. He beat all of us with ease last time."

Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked at her teammates.

"You're right. We need to get stronger. But we can't get stronger here anymore. These combat schools teach you how to fight monsters, not people. Our sparring sports won't prepare for guys like Adam and Torchwick, people who are willing to kill. We need to find our own ways of getting stronger. I'm going to see my Uncle Crow. He taught me how to fight with a scythe. If he can't teach me more, he'll know who can."

Yang nodded in approval.

"In that case, I'm going to head to the Commercial District of Vale. It's crawling with corruption and crime. I should find some information on Blake or the White Fang. Plus I've always wanted to be a vigilante." She said with a smirk.

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm going abroad. I'm going to the other kingdoms to find new combat teachers."

Ruby looked at the two older girls, then turned to look over the cliff down on the kingdom of Vale.

"Alright then, Team RWBY. Let's go."

**To Be Continued? From whose perspective?**


End file.
